Newt Gingrich: English or Failure?

Since this section is about "Great Thinkers," I had to refrain from writing an article about Newt Gingrich. While I think that Gingrich has done some excellent thinking in his past, his comments last week were not some of his greatest thoughts. While it does not qualify for great thinking it makes great fodder for a blog!

In a speech to the National Federation of Republican Women, Gingrich made statements implying that anyone who speaks Spanish "liv(es) in a ghetto" and that only those who speak English will be prosperous in America. He continued saying that, "The government should quit mandating that various documents be printed in any one of 700 languages depending on who randomly shows up" to vote.

For someone who plans to announce in September whether or not he intends to run for the Oval office, he does not seem to care if he gets a single Latino vote.

What Gingrich ignores is that the global community is leaving America behind. According to a survey of 29,328 people across the 25-nation EU, over 50 percent are bilingual! Here In the United States, by contrast, 9 percent of Americans can speak English and a second language fluently. Where does this leave us in a competing global economy? In my opinion, it leaves the United States at a disadvantage and perpetuates the view of the "Ugly American" to the rest of the World.

There are other reasons to employ bilingual individuals. For example, if Gingrich had had someone on staff that was bilingual when he was Speaker of the House in 1998, he would not have sent out, at government expense, a proclamation in Spanish saluting Mexico’s Cinco de Mayo holiday with the following embarrassing (yet seemingly true) translation mistake. The title below his signature was "El Hablador de la Casa." This literally means: “The Loudmouth of the House”. Seems he is still living up to that title.

Keep Thinking and learn a second language,

PhiloProf